Creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault sought to create a satire of true crime documentaries such as Serial, Making a Murderer, and The Jinx.Yacenda and Perrault came up with the idea for the show in early 2016 and subsequently pitched it to Netflix,American Vandal Season 2 DVD which agreed to distribute the show after being assured that the show would be more than just a dick joke sketch.Yacenda and Perrault, who had previously worked on short-form videos for outlets such as Funny or Die and CollegeHumor, were joined by showrunner Dan Lagana, who had most recently worked on the television series Deadbeat. Lagana took charge of hiring writers for the show, choosing individuals with relatively little experience in writing for television.The creators developed the central mystery in the course of writing the show,American Vandal Season 2 and sought to strike a balance between humor and the creation of an engrossing mystery. In casting the show, the creators avoided stunt casting, instead seeking actors who best fit the roles and had the ability to improvise. Shortly after the release of the first season of American Vandal, Yacenda and Perrault discussed the possibility of a second season, with the same documentary crew creating a documentary on a different crime.